Richard Grayson (Prime Earth)
Haly's Circus hid a dark secret, having been training assassins for the Court of Owls for decades. Unknown to the young acrobat, Grayson had been selected to become the newest Talon for the Court; being groomed to replace Alton Carver. Dick Grayson's parents were eventually killed by the mobster Tony Zucco on his mother's birthday , leaving the acrobat an orphan. Unable to work as an acrobat anymore, Grayson left the circus, unknowingly escaping his fate to become a Talon. Robin: Boy Wonder After being transferred to the Wayne Care Center, Bruce Wayne would occasionally check up on Grayson and help him out. While Grayson seemed to be recovering well from the tragedy, he would actually sneak out at night in order to conduct his own investigation into the whereabouts of Tony Zucco. Grayson would encounter Batman at various times, and the Bat helped Grayson with his investigation, empathizing with his similar tragedy. Eventually, Batman brought Grayson to the Batcave and shared his identity as Bruce Wayne. Wayne then offered to help Grayson bring in Tony Zucco, a notion that Alfred Pennyworth was reluctant to accept. Grayson accepted Wayne's offer and Wayne began training him over a period of a few months. After initially having trouble accepting a name, he finally settled on Robin, a reference to an adoration his mother had for the bird.. One night, Batman was tracking the Assassin Lady Shiva before the hero was ambushed and bested by her in combat. Donning his costume early, Robin arrived at Batman's position for his first mission in the field but was no match for the assassin, who spared his life and said they'd meet again. . At some point, Grayson partnered up and bonded with another teenager Batman had taken under his wing named Barbara Gordon, also known as Batgirl. . Though both had feelings for the other, and both knew that the other had such feelings, the relationship never went any further . Teen Titans On His Own Years later, Grayson and his mentor had an argument , resulting in Dick leaving Bruce's side and taking up a new identity as Nightwing. Nightwing eventually left Gotham, occasionally returning to mentor the next Robin, Red Robin and further train Batgirl . When Batman was apparently killed by Darkseid in one altercation, Grayson accepted the role as Batman for Bruce's sake and took Bruce's newly discovered son Damian on as his Robin . They would form a close bond while working with each other until Bruce's returned and retook the mantle. . Traps and Trapezes Dick returned to his identity as Nightwing, leaving Bruce Wayne to be the Batman once more. After his return, Haly's Circus came to Gotham for the first time since Grayson's parents were murdered. In his civilian identity, Grayson was attacked by an assassin named Saiko who insisted that Grayson was the fiercest killer in Gotham. Saiko tortured C.C. Haly for information on Nightwing's secret identity, and the old man died in Grayson's arms after telling the former Flying Grayson that the circus holds a terrible secret. Dick inherited the deed to the circus from Haly and soon began a relationship with his childhood friend, acrobat Raya Vestri. The circus announced they will be doing a memorial show on the anniversary of the night Grayson's parents were murdered, and, during the show, Saiko detonated an explosive inside the tent. While fighting the assassin, Nightwing discovered Saiko's secret identity - Raymond McCreary, a childhood friend of his, who had also been using Dick's girlfriend Raya as an accomplice. Unable to save him, Saiko plummeted to his death in his battle with Nightwing, and Raya turned herself in, seeing that her plan to destroy Haly's had failed. Night of the Owls When the Court of Owls initiated an attack on Gotham, sending their Talon assassins to take out high ranking people in Gotham, Nightwing went to save Mayor Sebastian Hady and came face-to-face with a Talon. Using lethal force on the undead zombie Talon, Nightwing stabbed him across the eye with his escrima stick, slowing the assassin's healing factor. However, another Talon named William Cobb, who Batman had revealed to Nightwing was Dick's revived great-grandfather, attacked Nightwing and stabbed him in the chest. Nightwing then tricked Cobb into Gotham's train tunnels, where the hero was able to freeze him with a liquid nitrogen tub. Following the event, Dick decided to keep Haly's Circus in Gotham and planned to invest in turning an abandoned amusement park into their new location using his own money. He worked with Sonia Branch, the daughter of his parents' killer Tony Zucco, into getting a loan for this plan by investing his entire trust fund into the project. Death of the Family A year after his disappearance, the Joker resurfaced in Gotham City, wearing the dismembered skin of his face as a mask and prepared to eliminate all of Batman's allies. While at his circus, Grayson was mauled by his performers who had been exposed to Joker Venom. After being overwhelmed by them, Grayson passed out and was dragged to an underground cave by the Joker, himself, who was setting up for his confrontation with the Bat. There in the cave, all of Batman's allies, beaten and gagged by the clown, were forced to take part in a makeshift feast scenario for Batman, where Joker announced he had cut off the entire Bat-family's faces and put them on ice. He also urged Batman to kill the heroes that dragged him down, arguing that his true family was the villains he fights. Escaping from his captivity, Batman attempted to catch the Joker, but the madman fell off a cliff to his apparent death before he could. After being freed and their wounds tended to, Nightwing and the rest of the family refused to meet at Wayne Manor, finding this last interaction with the Joker had put a wedge in their relationships. Second City In the aftermath of Joker's personal attack, which had resulted in the total destruction of Dick's Circus and all his funds, as well as his former sidekick Damian's death, Grayson sought a fresh start in Chicago, having discovered that Tony Zucco, his parents' killer, was alive and living there. Setting up in his new city, Grayson found himself having to elude Chicago law enforcement due to their strict no tolerance policy on vigilante-related actions. Trying to find a lead on Zucco's location, Grayson reluctantly enlisted the help of Chicago's new super-villain, The Prankster. However, Grayson ended up battling the Prankster and his forces as they launched a siege on Chicago. With the city on lockdown, Grayson was then forced to reluctantly team up with Zucco, the man he was searching for, to take down the Prankster. In the aftermath of the attack and his interaction with Nightwing, Tony Zucco turned himself to the police. Despite Grayson leaving Gotham, he didn't seem to be able to escape its villains and, during his time in Chicago, fought both the Mad Hatter and Zsasz before deciding to return home. . Forever Evil Shortly after the Crime Syndicate came to Earth and supposedly killed the Justice League, Nightwing was captured by the invaders on his way back to Gotham and had his identity revealed to the world in order to threaten the hero community even further . After a failed escape attempt, Grayson agreed to help Owlman betray the Syndicate , but their plan was never set into motion before the Crime Syndicate put Dick in a trap called the Murder Machine, a bomb that would only disengage if Grayson's heart stopped beating. Later Batman, Catwoman and Lex Luthor were able to rescue him when Luthor stopped Grayson’s heart for a few seconds to successfully both disarm the bomb and keep him alive . With Dick now free, the group defeated the Syndicate and returned the Justice League to power. Spyral In the wake of the collapse of the Crime Syndicate, Batman tests his former apprentice's will in a heated battle while briefing him on the organization, Spyral, and asks him to infiltrate Spyral as a double agent. He tells him the risks of taking the mission make makes him aware that he cannot let himself be known to anyone. Especially those close to him. Overcoming his mentor, Grayson reluctantly accepts the mission. Setting out into the world, Grayson begins taking down various terrorist plots, including those involving the "Fist of Cain". His actions attracts the attention of Spyral. They send Helena Bertenelli out to retrieve him. He is eventually enlisted into Spyral by the organization's mysterious leader, Mister Minos. After being teamed up with Helena, Grayson is ordered to find the different Organs of the Paragon Project. Through their search they encounter Midnighter on more than one occasion, who is also searching for the Paragon Project and tries to hinder Spyrals successes . When the mission to retrieve the Stomach brings them to Leicester they encounter a former T.H.E.Y. Agent, who stole the Stomach from the British Government. Though Grayson is against negotiating with Ashemoore, Helena as the senior Agent employs Ashemoore as a new Spyral doctor . Through the missions Dick also comes into contact with other Agents of Spyral and gets deeper into the organisation, all the while keeping in mind that he is undercover . Grayson finds out about the Nanite Robots, which even gets Bruce to admit that the mission could be more dangerous than they had previously thought . On their mission to retrieve the last Organ Helena and Richard encounter the Fist of Cain again . After initial problems and disagreements Midnighter allies with them and together they are able to destroy the terrorist attack the Fist of Cain had planned and retrieve the last Organ . Why the hunt for the Paragon Organs was important is finally revealed when Mr. Minos betrays Spyral. Grayson and Tiger are able to destroy Paragon and Mr. Minos is killed by Helena in the aftermath . Endgame During the events of Endgame, The Joker returned to terrorize Gotham and Batman for his ultimate trick. Grayson returned to Gotham in order to aid Batman. In order to deceive both the Joker and Batman's allies, Grayson donned a copy of Bruce's cowl and led the attack on the Joker in the heart of the city. When the Joker removed Batman's mask expecting to reveal Bruce's secret identity to everyone else, he instead found Dick Grayson. Grayson left Gotham before the revelation of Batman's death, and was not immediately made aware of the new Batman. Nemesis Grayson is sent on a mission to retrieve a Kryptonian amulet from a Spanish duchess with his new partner Agent 1. After they obtain it Grayson is contacted by Helena. She suspects Agent 1 is a traitor who has murdered numerous agents from other espionage groups. Grayson leaves his partner behind to get the amulet away safely. On his drop point he encounters Lex Luthor, who tells him that LexCorp has been involved with Spyral since the beginning. Losing his trust in Helena, he searches for Tiger and is able to save him from the real traitor. During the fight it becomes obvious to Grayson that Spyral knows even more than he thought and he is now fully convinced that it is time to go back to Gotham. Rebirth After the events of DC Rebirth, The Parliament of Owls attempted to blackmail Dick into becoming a member of the Parliament, by planting a bomb in the head of Damian Wayne. Dick managed to neutralize the bomb with a device given to him by Midnighter. Even with the bomb neutralized, Dick remained part of the Parliament, attempting to take them down from the inside. Shortly after his new membership began, Dick was assigned a partner, an assassin named Raptor, who believes Dick needs a new mentor. The Return of Wally West After Wally West had escaped from being trapped in the Speed Force and began looking for the Titans, Dick is the first Titan to be found by Wally. Dick doesn't know or recognize Wally, until Wally electrocutes him, "shocking" his memories back to life. | Powers = * : During his time as an Agent of Spyral, Richard had received various implants to better aid him in the field when he was on his missions. ** : Hypnos are implant that enable the user to hypnotize others. This was used by Richard, who already displayed mastery in it's power, despite it normally taking years to master. However, it is revered as a dangerous implant in which can open a two-way brain scramble. **'Identity Protection' : The implants make the user's face unable to be captured by surveillance cameras and a person's memory. | Abilities = * : Richard Grayson was a acrobatic prodigy who was part of the "Flying Graysons" act, who were well known for conducting acrobatic acts without a net. As a result of his skill, he garnered success for Haly's Circus . * : As a result of his status as an agent of Spyral and being taught by Helena Bertinelli, Richard is proficient in the art of Espionage. * : Dick is an expert marksman and is highly skilled in the use of firearms. * : Being trained by the Dark Knight himself in various fields, Richard Grayson is shown to have a naturally high level of intelligence, though not as high as Batman's own. ** : Richard Grayson was taught in various fields by Batman and as a result, is a capable tactician. In addition to that, he is skilled in reading the body motions of others, using this skill to aid in defeating multiple armed opponents and anticipate an opponent's next move. ** : Taught by Alfred Pennyworth in acting, Richard Grayson is proficient in the art of disguise. He was able to pose as Joker in Arkham Asylum and occasionally poses as Batman whenever Bruce Wayne and Batman needed to be sighted at the same time. ** ** : Being trained by the World's Greatest Detective, Batman, Richard is known to be an excellent detective. ** ** * * * : Before even being formally trained, Richard possessed limited skill in hand-to-hand combat. After being trained rigorously by Batman in martial arts , his skills impressed the likes of Lady Shiva and Midnighter when he engaged in combat with both adversaries. He has even been able to match his mentor. . ** ** * : Through years of extensive and intensive training, Dick has archived the peak of human perfection both mentally & physically . * * * : Trained by Batman, Richard is proficient in throwing objects. He has often thrown his escrima sticks to incapacitate his opponents. He has even done the same with the use of a gun. * : Due to his training with Batman, Richard is well versed in many melee weapons such as staffs , escrima sticks, and bladed weaponry such as swords . | Strength = | Weaknesses = | Equipment = *'Nightwing Suit': As Nightwing, Richard Grayson's costume is made up of sturdy but flexible material that not only suited his strength in speed and acrobatics, but also was durable enough to take bullets from machine guns. His former costume was a stylized red "wing" across his shoulders and extending to his hands, coloring his two middle fingers, over a black torso and legs. He also has gauntlets much like Batman's own suit. Nightwing's costume is tailored specifically to his unique style of crime-fighting. He also has variants of his costume in which one one his stylized red "wings" reach only to his shoulders, another to his wrists, and one in which has hip and finger stripes. In addition, he formerly owned a suit which was blue and yellow, and another that was an armored suit that sported a Bat Symbol, which is currently being used by Red Hood His suit houses various hidden compartments for his gadgetry such as smoke pellets, fire extinguishing pellets, wing-dings, and small bombs. The fingertips of the suit also enable him to use a needle in which can give chemical analysis and even sport lockpicks from his fingertips . :*'Nightwing's Domino Mask': As Nightwing, the domino mask is shaped just like his wing-dings. It has various capabilities such as being able to track the GPS coordinates of a cellphone, thermal vision, detect radio waves, and being capable of giving detailed analysis of scenes and fights. :*'Nightwing's Gauntlets': Hidden within secret compartments lies Nightwing's gadgetry, in which a great majority seems to be hidden. He has various gadgetry in his gauntlets such as binoculars and it is occasionally used to store his Escrima Sticks. His gauntlets can also shoot remote bombs, a sonic device with his ear dampeners, and a grapple line. *'EMP Mask': A highly advanced mask created by Lucius Fox, the mask is made of webbing that retracts light surrounding the wearer's head and artificially alters the appearance of someone's face. Richard has used it to sneak into Arkham Asylum and pose as Joker and used it again to gain information on Lady Shiva. | Transportation = *'Wingcycle': | Weapons = *'Escrima Sticks': Personalized by Richard himself, his Escrima sticks is a sleek black stick in which is made of very sturdy material. He also later upgraded it in which they could shoot a grappling line , and even hold some smoke bombs. ** : Dick's Escrima sticks are capable of emitting high voltages of electricity. *'Wing Dings': | Notes = * Two issues that deal in the origins of Dick Grayson's emergence as Robin in the New 52 slightly differ. In Nightwing #0, Dick found out Bruce's identity as Batman on his own due to their similarities. However in Secret Origins #1, Dick is surprised to find Bruce Wayne is Batman. * Unlike his New Earth counterpart, Dick was only Robin for roughly a year before donning the mantle of Nightwing. | Trivia = * Out of all of Batman's allies, Joker despises Nightwing the most. | Recommended = | Links = }} Category:Sidekicks Category:Eskrima Category:Titans members Category:Formerly Deceased